Opinionated News

Today I want to share a news story that might be getting hidden because of the media attention on Barack Obama.  While I fully appreciate he deserves his time in the spotlight, there’s something else going on the world that needs America’s attention.

In a few weeks time there will be the 20 year anniversary of a news story that reduced me to tears.  On the 21st of December 1988 a flight carrying passengers to the US was blown apart over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.  I’d grown up with the acts of terrorism by the IRA and so was no stranger to bombings, but there was something about this particular act, so close to the holidays, on a flight that must have been full of people excited at being reunited with their family members, that made me cry.  I thought of the children on that plane talking about what they hoped Santa would bring.  I thought of the people who would have collected them, spending the day organizing special treats, for their family members and friends who they’d now never see again.  It was more poignant because I think that I was probably one of the last people to see the plane, or at least its lights, as it flew in the airspace above my home in the North East of England. 

After years of looking for those responsible, and with the help of such mediators as Nelson Mandela, a man was finally convicted of being largely responsible for this act of terrorism in 2001 following a trial that lasted a year.  On 21st January 2001 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was finally sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for his part in the murder of the passengers of Pan Am flight 103.  Following appeals which he lost, and an increase in sentence following new laws that allowed a Scottish court to sentence him (originally because of the nature of the trial the terrorist was tried under Scottish law in a court in the Netherlands) which meant he would spend at least 27 years in prison for the crime he had been found guilty of, the US State Department said in April 2008 it stood behind the Scottish decision that the terrorist would serve his time in the Scottish jail and not be transferred as part of any requested prisoner exchange deals with Libya.

And then we come to the latest news, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi has cancer and his legal team think he should be released on compassionate grounds.  Apparently his family are now living in the Glasgow area in Scotland and he would be released to spend the remainder of his life with them.  Apparently the defense team think that having spend a total of 8 years in prison for the murder of 249 (180 of these were American) men, women and children is ok because the terrorist has advanced prostate cancer and isn’t expected to live long anyway.

I’m sorry to say that in this situation I don’t care what he’s got.  I don’t care that he isn’t with his family to spend what could be his last Christmas, or the last remaining months of his life.  I remember the photos of the dead passengers, the children who died 3 days before Christmas.  The families who never got to spend another Christmas with their loved ones whose only part in this crime had been to get on a plane to fly home for the holidays, the 11 residents of a tiny Scottish town who died as a result of the bombing, the other residents of the town that came together to provide support for the investigators who were called from their families, and the first responders who dealt with the horrific aftermath throughout that holiday season.

If any of you are as appalled as I am that this man, this terrorist, who callously took the lives of so many innocent people, could walk free to spend his remaining months with his family, contact your local officials and have them write a letter to the US State Department demanding that they keep a firm eye on the proceedings in Scotland as this “compassionate” appeal progresses and exert what pressure they have to ensure Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi spends the rest of whatever life he has behind bars.  At least his relatives can visit him in prison, which is more than can be said about the families of his victims.

If you want to read more about the ins and outs of this act of terrorism on Pam Am Flight 103, check out this Wikipedia page and the BBC timeline of the Lockerbie bombing events and legal proceedings.